Now with 1976 Participants!
News and Notes about Brigada, Your Gateway to Missions Networking!
[Pass this issue to a friend! To subscribe, see instructions at end.]
[Just 4 more weeks ’til we’re one year old!]

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In this issue….

* POP-UP PRAYER REQUEST
* THE KAZAKHS HAVE BECOME THE KAZAKS!
* GLOBAL GLIMPSE
* HAVE CAMERA, WILL STILL TRAVEL
* HOWDY PARTNERS
* REDLANDS CONSULTATION ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
* HAVING TROUBLE WITH MISSIONARY SUPPORT?
* BBS LIST AT YOUR SERVICE
* TO SUBSCRIBE TO BRIGADA TODAY

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POP-UP PRAYER REQUEST
It occurred to me today what a powerful resource we would have if 2000 people bowed their heads and prayed just now, the moment they received this Brigada Today, that God would empower his churches around the world to really finish the task of taking the gospel to the least evangelized people. It doesn’t have to be a long prayer… but if you could join us just now… even if for a moment, would you?

“Dear Heavenly Father, we love you and adore you… and we want to ask just now that you’ll give us your wisdom, strength, hope and faithfulness in greater and greater measure, so we can in turn share your love with others. Empower us to be conduits of your compassion. Fill us with the desire and undying, unstoppable determination to complete the task of world evangelization as you’ve commanded. And when you use us, remove from us the temptation to seek selfish ambition or glory. We commit just now to giving all the glory to you, because you so richly deserve it. And now, I specifically want to lift up the ____ people [fill in the blank!]. Raise up witnesses both among them and to them. Use me, if you can, to make a powerful difference someday soon in their lives. And allow me to be of some small service in rallying more and more concern and action in sharing Christ and establishing your church in their midst. Lord, make it an effective church that can multiply many times over. And Lord, thanks for hearing and already setting about to answer these prayers. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” Thanks man.

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THE KAZAKHS HAVE BECOME THE KAZAKS!
I’d better get with the program! In last week’s Brigada Today, we referred to the Brigada-peoples-kazakh conference which has now been astro-traveled into the realm of brigada-peoples-kazak. They’ve changed their conference name to reflect an official decision on the part of the Kazak people to drop the ‘h’ off the end of the name. Bravo, guys. Again, if you have a burden for this people group, or want to learn more about Marco Polo, join up by sending email to hub@xc.org with only this line in the text of the message:
subscribe brigada-peoples-kazakh

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GLOBAL GLIMPSE
Chinese officials provoke church-planting! The mission agency Open Doors reports that between 40 and 60 new house churches have been planted in Peking since November 1994 by Christians from a single church. The Chinese government originally intended to “tame” a church which had become uncomfortable for them by replacing pastor Yang Yudong with one more loyal to the system. Many Christians left the church in protest – and planted up to 60 new, officially unregistered and unwanted, churches.
Source: Friday Fax, 2. Feb. ’95, (c) DAWN Europe,
http://www.tecc.co.uk/jesusa/dawnindx.html
(Global Glimpse is prepared faithfully each week by John Hanna, Caleb Project, Littleton, CO. Why not make it a regular column in your church bulletin! Thanks for your tireless service John!)

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HAVE CAMERA, WILL STILL TRAVEL
Don’t forget Mike Scott, Mogulracer@aol.com, who is ready and willing to accompany your JP2000 team (or other short-term mission group) to capture the best National Geographic style photos you’ll ever see! Check him out… he’s reasonable on costs… willing to negotiate.

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HOWDY PARTNERS
(Follow up on last week’s “GOT ANY GOOD RESOURCES ON DEVELOPING MISSION PARTNERSHIPS?” item.) Great feedback on partnership, gang. Winner for most recommended approach? INTERDEV, John Rogers interdev-uk@xc.org.

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REDLANDS CONSULTATION ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(Thanks to Galen Hiestand GalenHiestand@XC.org for reporting from the scene!) On January 25-25, some 70 people gathered at the headquarters of Mission Aviation Fellowship to discuss the implications of Information Technology and the ministry of the Church. Dubbed the “Cyber 70” (or C70 for short) the group discussed three main topics categorized into Issues, Applications and Training. The event was purposely structured not as a conference, where people come to learn something, but as a consultation, where topics were thrown open for in-depth discussion. Perhaps unlike any previous event, the consultation actually began one month before the January meetings by participants sharing over several electronic conferences. By the time they gathered together, most folks already had been introduced in “cyberspace” and could “hit the ground running” since they already knew each other’s passion in regards to IT and the Church. Likewise, the consultation continues on via several electronic conferences dealing with many of the outcome details to be hammered out over the next several months. Some of the key “threads” of the discussion were:

1. How IT [information technology] could be the greatest threat AND the greatest tool since the Tower of Babel in uniting Christians to complete the Great Commission.
2. How we must be extra sensitive in applying IT cross-culturally to the Majority World so that we help decrease and increase the information gap.
3. How there appears to be tremendous confusion and lack of clarity among many organizations (Christian and non) in trying to handle the phenomenal changes that IT is demanding. How to deal with the increasing overload of information and messages.
4. How IT has tremendous potential in the area of distance education.
5. How to grapple with the tough philosophical questions regarding IT while simultaneously initiating key applications benefiting the church and missions.

For more information about the consultation and the on-going electronic conferences, contact GalenHiestand@XC.org. Again, thanks Galen and all the rest of the Cyber70!!! :-) We can’t thank you enough for putting tools like email conferencing into our hands!

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HAVING TROUBLE WITH MISSIONARY SUPPORT?
Now help’s on its way! Thanks to Dave Moody DM@XC.Org for sending in the following:
One track of the Penetrating the 10/40 Window Unreached Peoples Conference, March 10-13 1996 in Virginia Beach, VA will be discussing the problems Churches, Supporters and Missionaries are going through in everyday life in one of its six sessions. This particular session will discuss problems and try to present solutions through the interactive discussion of conference attendees. Many Churches deal with the same problems whether they support teams in the Middle East or one person in the Europe. Please take the time to list the problems you are struggling with or have had to walk through in the past. No situation is to simple or too difficult. We will not mention names, cities or churches… only the problem itself. Some examples that have been submitted so far are: The difficulty of getting material out of country for newsletters. The difficulty in trying to keep close contact with supporters. Planning short term trips to unfamiliar countries. Getting supplies from point A to point B. Raising support for non church planting missions workers. How do we get the church interested in our ‘adopted people group’ We don’t have enough, (money, people, etc_) for a short term trip….. How can we still go? Please send any problems you may have by email to billcover@aol.com or U.S. mail to Bill Cover PO Box 8547 Norfolk, VA 23503. Thanks guys! You’ve hit on a heart strings!

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BBS LIST AT YOUR SERVICE
Interested in getting a list of electronic computer bulletin boards from around the world? Thanks to Steve Hayes hayesstw@risc1.unisa.ac.za, now you can! Just send email to hub@xc.org with only the following words in the text of the message…
get brigada bbs-list

We’re talkin’ Germany, South Africa, USA, Canada, and even China… and more.

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TO SUBSCRIBE TO BRIGADA TODAY, send email to hub@xc.orgwith only the following message:
subscribe brigada

TO UNSUBSCRIBE send email to hub@xc.orgwith this line in the text:
unsubscribe brigada (Hope to see you again!)

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BRIGADA TODAY IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE FOLLOWING TEAM OF REGULAR VOLUNTEERS:

Global Glimpses: John Hanna, Caleb Project, jhanna@cproject.com
ADVANCE: Mark A. Kelley, Kainos Press, 70420.1057@compuserve.com
Web Wizard: Bob Mayhew, Brigada Volunteer, Mayhew@xc.org
Web Art: Patti Mayhew, pmayhew@discover.net
Technical Development: Jonathan Marsden, MAFxc jonathan@xc.org
Brigada Customer Service Manager: Revis Ann Massey, RevisAnnMassey@xc.org
Brigada Coordinator: Doug Lucas, Team Expansion & Brigada, DLucas@TeamExpansion.org
and many other occasional contributors too numerous to mention! But thanks for working together! That’s the dream of Brigada!